The Captain and the Lady
by Hawki
Summary: Elseworlds Story: They'd begun life as orphans. They'd become foster siblings, and soon after that, superheroes. However, things didn't stay the same. Time changed the world. Time changed people. Friendship could become something more...and less.
1. The Wisdom of Solomon

.

**Shazam: The Captain and the Lady**

**Chapter 1: The Wisdom of Solomon**

They all know Mary is smart. She might deny it, but there's that feeling when you get a pile of letters from various colleges across the USA, all saying (paraphrased), "you're smart, and we'd love to have you, please say yes." So, regardless of what Mary Bromfield does now, she can't claim that she isn't smart. Or brilliant. Or any of those things. After all, she can only choose one of those letters (well, far as Billy's aware, he's not sure about this whole college thing), and if she throws it away, well, the trash is the trash. He or his foster-siblings can fish it out. Yes, that makes them raccoons, but none of them fly around in a rocket, so, copyright can take a hike. Yes, that is a reference to the invisible jet that Wonder Woman's reportedly using now, why did you ask?

Well, whatever raccoons and amazons may or may not have in common, tonight's the night of celebration. Food, drink, music, lights, friends. Maybe drugs. Billy isn't sure. He got his kickstart on alcohol when this whole superhero thing began (tasted terrible then, tastes slightly less terrible now), but he hasn't used drugs. Heroes don't use drugs. He knows they don't use drugs, because there was an ad starring that cyborg guy telling people not to use drugs, and if a cyborg with a glowing eye tells you not to get high, what else is going to convince you? So, okay then – no drugs. But everything else. And everyone else.

He can't help but feel jealous, making his way through "the Den," as he and his foster siblings call it. Mary's got friends. Some of them are his friends as well, some of them aren't. Freddy's got his friends, Darla's got her friends, Eugene's got his friends, heck, Pedro's got his boyfriend. And, okay, sure, that isn't weird. All of the Shazam Family have some of their own friends. Ma and pa are happy that they have those friends, because foster kids need a world outside their own. So, friends. Music. Partying. Dancing. It's been half a year since she got accepted into Caltech, and she's going to start in the summer. He's fifteen now, while she's eighteen. He just needs to make his way to the centre of the party – three couches, a table, lots of stuff on that table, and oh boy, it's hot in here. Climate change is like that. No wonder the atlanteans are pissed.

"Mary."

He can see her. She's wearing a dress to mark the occasion – not so fancy that it changes the mood of the party, but fancy enough that he can't help but notice it. She's talking with one of her friends – Sherone? Sherona? Sharron? It's something that begins with S, and has two or three syllables.

"Mary."

She can't see him. S-girl (Sally?) has said something. Mary's laughing. He can't hear the joke, but he hopes it's a good one.

"Mary!"

She looks up at him. She smiles. Christ, she's got a gorgeous smile. Like, that's not new information exactly, but-

"Hey, Billy." She pats the couch. "Come on, take a seat."

"Oh…okay," he says, in a high-pitched voice.

"Whoa, someone's balls are dropping," S-girl says. Mary gives her a scowl and a light punch.

Why's his voice sounding like that, he wonders? Yeah, puberty, but…God damn it, is this another one of those things that doesn't transfer to his mortal form? Like, forty years from now, when he says "Shazam," is he still going to look like a caped guy from a toothpaste commercial, or will he look like the Wizard who gave him those powers in the first place? So many questions, not enough time. He takes a seat beside his foster sister. It's a tight fit, and that their sides are touching each other isn't lost on him. What also isn't lost on him is that he's wearing a tracksuit, while she and all her friends are dressed all fancy-like. Not that he was going to come here wearing a tuxedo or anything, but still, the clothes make the man. He can only be grateful that the Wizard gave him a pre-made costume. He has no idea how all the other superheroes do it in this world. Like, did they make their costumes, or get family members to do it for them?

"So, this your brother?" S-girl asks.

"Foster brother, Stephanie" Mary says. She puts a hand on Billy's shoulder and he finds himself feeling very hot and very cold at the same time. "But, yeah. Brother."

Least he knows the girl's name is Stephanie. That's something.

"So what are your plans Billy?" one of the other girls asks – he doesn't know her name. Doesn't care right now either. "Going to college too?"

"Um, maybe."

"Maybe?"

"Hey, aren't you the kid who ran away from ten foster families before ending up here?"

Billy's face turns red. "Well, wasn't ten families actually, but-"

"Eleven?"

"Twelve?"

"Guys, come on, let him speak," Mary says. She gives him another smile. "Anyway, Billy – college." She gives him a wink and a smile, and when he speaks, Billy has to make every effort to keep his voice in check.

"College," he says. "Well, yeah. Maybe. Few years' time and all that. But, hey, Mary's the smart one in the family." He taps his forehead. "Wisdom of Solomon and all that."

Mary gives him a look, and he knows that he should really change the subject.

"Anyway, I got something for you," he says. He fishes something out of his pocket and hands it to his foster sister. "Like, congratulations on the whole college thing."

Mary gives him a funny look. But when she opens the small black box, that look's replaced by one of pure joy.

"Oh my gosh!"

Her smile is still gorgeous.

She takes the earrings out. They're jade, or so the clerk told him. He just needed something that was the right mix of pretty and cheap. You only get so much money working in an afterschool job. Also, people aren't paying him for doing lightning dances as much now, and no-one wants their phone charged. Bastards.

"So, like, hoped you might like them," Billy stammers. "Like, y'know, little gift for the whole smarts thing and-"

"Billy, I love them!" She gives him a hug. It's not too tight, but he feels himself being crushed. "Thank you!"

Actually, it's not that. It's that his heart is pounding against his rib-cage, and given how close she is, it's probably pounding against hers as well. She draws back, and he watches her put them on.

"They're jade," Billy says. "Just so you know."

One of the girls gives him a funny look. He knows he's said something stupid. But then a new song starts playing, there's a cheer, and before he knows it, Mary and the girls are getting up to dance.

"I think jade is-"

Mary drags him to his feet. "Come on party pooper, night's still young."

"Oh. Okay," he says, his voice reaching the ceiling in regards to how high it is.

She leads him over. It's a dance, in as much that they get to just shake to the beat how they want, provided that they don't bump into anyone. But before they do that, Mary asks him something.

"So what are you going to do?"

He blinks. "Pardon?"

"What are you going to do?" Mary asks. "I mean, I haven't even decided what my major is going to be yet, but-"

"Hey, I'm fine," Billy says. "I mean, Philadelphia still needs a hero, so I can keep doing that."

"Yeah, but that doesn't exactly pay the bills."

"Come on. It's your night," Billy says, before smirking. "Solomon."

Mary smiles, and they begin to dance. And as they do so, Billy thinks about something.

Mary can't claim that she isn't smart. There's no way that claim could have any weight. But right now, in this second, she couldn't claim that she isn't beautiful either. And strange as it is to notice that in a foster sister…he can't help it.

His voice is changing. His body's changing. And unlike the events of the past six months, it has nothing to do with a lightning bolt hitting him.

Even if he feels electric around her.

* * *

_A/N_

_So, yes, this is a BillyxMary pairing. It's not something I'm entirely comfortable with, but I asked people how they felt about it in _Seven Deadly Sins_, and the answers were almost entirely positive in regards to whether they wanted this story or not. And look, at the very least, in the DCEU, we can safely assume that they're not blood related._

_I will clarify that I'm designating this as an "Elseworlds" story in that I'm not writing it to be 100% concurrent with the DCEU, whereas most multi-chapters I do are designed to be as close to canon as possible. Reason is that, whatever happens post-_Shazam! _(the film), none of this stuff is likely to happen in any shape or form. So, if we're playing semantics, everything up to _Shazam! _happens, and then the timeline branches into this story. Ergo, I can get away with stuff I normally wouldn't if I was trying to be as congruent with the DCEU as possible._


	2. The Strength of Hercules

.

**Shazam: The Captain and the Lady**

**Chapter 2: The Strength of Hercules**

Four years later, Billy is still playing hero.

Or rather, Shazam is playing hero. Billy Batson is just some kid inside the giant He-Man that is Earth's mightiest defender (suck it Supes, you know it's true). What Billy Batson does during the day is a collection of part-time jobs that manage to pay the bills – kids in the foster system rarely come out with good prospects for a job, let alone ones that spend over a decade looking for their birth-mother. In the hours available to him, he fights the good fight – everything from foiling bank robberies to getting cats out of trees (once, he got a dog out as well). Oh, and saving the Earth from aliens. Because that's a thing.

Alright, maybe not saving Earth, just the city of Los Angeles. There's a spaceship piloted by centurians. He thought they came from Alpha Centauri, but turns out they're from Proxima Centauri. He isn't sure if he's actually responsible for botching diplomatic relations, what with mis-originating them (is that a word?) but whatever, they're pissed now, and they're trying to destroy the city because that's what bad guys do. And if alien invasion has taught mankind anything, it's that a) it never ends well, and b) you need someone in a cape to save the day. So, not only is he going to save Los Angeles, but he's going to do it without destroying the city in the process. Poor city's been destroyed enough in the movies, he doesn't need to do it in the real world.

Which is a lot harder than it sounds actually. Hard enough to avoid the flying gunships, but he's got to destroy the gunships and make sure they don't fall on anyone. Or shoot anyone. Or crash into buildings on a kamikaze attack. So, while he's got speed, strength, and, y'know, invincibility on his side, he isn't perfect. He's not, and Billy Batson isn't, and oh crap, there's a cat in a tree, and the spaceship's headed for it, and-

He zooms down. In less than a second, he gets the cat out of the tree, puts it down on the grass, rips the tree out of the ground, and whacks the spaceship with so much force it smashes into three of its own and completely vaporizes all four of them. Strength of Hercules bro. Deal with it.

The cat meows at him and he looks down. "Move it Fluffy."

According to its name tag, the furball's name is actually Iris. But whatever. Cats belong in Gotham, aliens belong in…well, they don't belong in Los Angeles, or anywhere else on Earth (Superman notwithstanding), but that's the card he's been dealt. Just like the alien mothership has opened up, and a red light is coming from it.

"Oh come on," Billy whispers. "Really?"

Really really. They can't take one city, let alone Earth, so they're going to destroy it. Kinda like Independence Day. The first one. The sequel sucked. Granted, mankind suffered a real alien invasion a few years before that film came out, but its defenders can make excuses all they want – the film was lacklustre, and anyone who thinks it's going to get a sequel is kidding themselves, and boy oh boy that red light looks really angry. And really red. Also, it's about to fire and-

"Shazam!"

A bolt of lightning tears through the heavens, and by extension, the ship hovering above the actual Shazam. Or, rather, the first Shazam. There are five others, but they're mostly doing their own thing, mostly in places east of here.

"Shazam!" he yells again.

A second lightning bolt tears through the sky. Billy's transformed from a boy of nineteen to his thirty-something superhero self, and there's no more red light. In fact, the ship's been cloven in half, and both of those halves are falling down towards Los Angeles.

"Oh no."

He really didn't think this through. He was so focused on not emulating that pilot guy, that he didn't actually think that it might have been the better course of action.

"No no no no no no no!"

He soars upward and presses against one of the two halves. It's heavy. Not so heavy that he can't stop it, but heavy enough that in the time that he spends stopping this piece, he won't be able to stop the other piece.

_Not good enough._

He can't fail these people. He can't fail this city. He has the strength of Hercules, and he's done more than slaying lions and venturing to the Underworld. Granted, heading to the Underworld would be kind of neat, but…

_Damn it!_

He shouts. He yells. He screams. With every piece of strength he has, he slows down the descent of the piece. Muscles bulge. Sweat trickles down his neck. Slowly, ever so slowly, the piece of the starship comes to a stop. Slowly, ever so slowly, he lays it to rest on the street below. A few cars are crushed, but thankfully, no-one's in them – everyone's taken cover by now. He turns towards the other piece. It's much lower. But it hasn't yet impacted the ground, because someone's holding it back. Someone wearing red with a white dress and cape.

_Mary?_

He soars over. Whoever it is, he can tell that they're struggling. The piece of alien starship is still descending, and it's doing so at a rate that it'll still cause damage. If that is Mary, then invulnerable or not, she's going to be hurt. And if it is Mary Bromfield, his foster-sister who he hasn't seen for four years…

Well, he wants to see her again for various reasons that he can't explain right now. So that, and for all the other reasons, he gets to the bottom of the debris.

"Billy?" she asks.

It is her. Of the whole family, she's the one that looks the most similar to her mortal form when she calls down lightning from the heavens. Maybe it's down to age, maybe it's down to something else.

"Yeah," he says. "Come on!"

He pushes. She pushes. Slowly, ever so slowly (but not as slowly as when he was handling the other half), they bring the starship frame down to earth.

"Whoo!" She lets out a cheer and raises her right hand. "Nice!"

He raises her hand to slap hers, but he looks up.

"Billy?"

He sees it coming. One of the dropships. Its engines are on fire, and it's heading right for them.

"Billy, what's wrong?"

He looks at her. She stares at him. She hasn't seen it. She hasn't heard it. If anything happens to her-

"Billy, why are you-"'

He dashes forward, leaving a yellow blur behind him. He slams into her, sending them both all the way down the road, smashing through the walls of a bottle shop.

"Billy, what the hell?!"

He's landed on top of her, among all the debris, bottles included.

"I…um…" He nods back down the road, to the chunks of centurian starship, and what remains of the gunship. "Like, there was a ship coming down-"

"I know, I stopped it."

"No, the little one, it…" He nods again and Mary's eyes widen.

"Oh. Right." She lays her head down. "Um, thanks."

"Sure. No problem."

He lies there. She lies there. She looks up at him. He looks down at her.

"Um, Billy?"

"Huh?"

"You can get off me now."

"What? Oh, right." He scrambles upward, while she lets up far more slowly.

Mary looks around the room, ringing her hands together. "Bet the owner isn't going to like this." She sighs. "Aliens. Second contact, and they're a bunch of assholes as well."

Billy grunts something. He's trying not to look at her, partly out of guilt, partly out of…well, different guilt.

"Billy, what are you doing?"

Billy's picked up four six packs. He grins at her sheepishly. For a moment, he feels like he's fifteen again, seeing her on that night…seeing her differently…

"No," Mary says.

"No? No what?"

She gives him a shove. "You know exactly what."

"Hey, it's not like we're ever compensated for _our _damages."

"Damages? What are you…" She shakes her head, but he can see her smile. "No. No way. We can't do this. Not now, not ever, not in a million-"

They take the bottles.

They're heroes, but they're not _that _pure of heart.


	3. The Stamina of Atlas

.

**Shazam: The Captain and the Lady**

**Chapter 3: The Stamina of Atlas**

They end up taking twenty-four bottles of beer back to Mary's dorm room at Caltech. They land on the grounds out of sight. Two lightning bolts come down from the sky. No-one notices, because everyone's staying indoors, either still hiding from a botched alien invasion, or watching the news on said alien invasion. So that makes it easy for them to sneak up to her dorm room, collapse on a chair each, and open a bottle each. He had his first beer at fourteen, and now, after half a decade of trying, he's finally got the taste for it. It helps that so many people in the country are willing to give him free beer for "services rendered."

"To us," Billy says.

"To us not ever doing this again," Mary corrects.

She's trying to be stern. And it's kind of working – he's nineteen, but she's still four years his senior. It's a difference that's less pronounced from when they first met, but it's a difference all the same. But on the other hand, she can't stop smiling. She can't hide that she's actually enjoying this. Being a little bad, drinking a little beer…and smiling. Like on that night four years ago, her smile is still beautiful. Unlike on that night, he can talk without imitating a soprano.

"So," Billy asks eventually. "How's…stuff?"

"Stuff?"

"Stuff," Billy says. "Like, campus life, professors, friends…special friends…"

Mary gives him the lowdown as they start on their second beer each. Campus is good. Really good. She'll be graduating later this year. Hasn't gone by as far as she'd hoped, because every so often she says "Shazam" (or the S-word as she calls it – she doesn't want a lightning bolt interrupting this conversation) to do some hero stuff. Not on the level of aliens, or the stuff Billy has to face (the less said about that Black Adam guy, the better), but still, she does it. Because she has to. Or, as Billy can tell, because she wants to. Even if she won't admit it, as she looks aside and runs a hand through her hair, sipping at her beer.

No mention of special friends though. Friends, sure, but nothing…nothing special. He can tell that she's trying to avoid the subject, so instead they put on the TV to see the fallout of Los Angeles. They're on their third beer each now, and draw their chairs closer together.

"We do good?" Billy asks.

"Yeah." She lays her head against his shoulder. "Pretty good."

It's autumn, but damn if it isn't warm in here.

Pundits keep talking. Video keeps playing. They spot, whoop, and cheer whenever they appear on screen. By the time they get to their fourth bottle each, Billy pops the question.

"Y'know, if I said the S-word…would I like, be sober?"

"Sober?" Mary's slurring a lot now. "Who wants you sober?"

"Like, if I said…Sha…Shazem…would I, like, be clean? Or, like, if I said Sha…"

"Don't say it," she slurs."

"Sha…Shazum…do I like, go back to drunk Billy?"

"Drunk?" She giggles, popping him on the nose. "You're not drunk. I…" She gets to her feet, standing on top on the chair's cushion. "I…I'm drunk!"

"Mary, be careful."

"Or…I'm not drunk. Or…I'm so drunk…I don't know I'm drunk…or I think I'm drunk, and I'm not drunk…"

She is drunk. Billy's drunk too, but not so drunk that he can't see that they're both drunk. So when she loses her balance and falls down, he's able to catch her. Her legs are hanging over the chair, while her upper body is lying on him. Like some kind of gymnast who's landed on the safety mat.

"Hey," she whispers. She pops him on the nose again.

He doesn't say anything. His mouth's really dry right now.

"Like old times," she whispers. "Like, there was the van, and then red guy comes and saves me…"

"Think it was a truck."

"Nah. Van. Totally a van." She turns her head over and points at the screen. "Look. There's me…I think…"

Is it? It's hard to tell. The screen's all blurry. So's the clock. It's nearly midnight, but he doesn't feel tired. Or, rather, he is tired, but his body doesn't know he's tired.

"Missed you," Mary whispers. "Missed all of you."

"Yeah. Keep in touch, but-"

"Specially you."

Billy's ears turn as red as the suit he usually wears. He doesn't tell her that the same's been true in reverse. More and more over the years. But-

_No._

He can't do this. He knows what he wants, but…he manages to get to his feet. He needs to go. He needs air.

"Billy?" Mary drops the botte and gets to her feet as well. "You…where you going?"

"Yeah, it's…late, and…"

"You got a place to stay?"

"Oh, sure…few…dozen miles away…no big deal, I'll just say…say the…"

He stumbles. She catches him.

"Here, come on," she says. She pulls him to his feet. "I think you need-"

He knows exactly what he needs, or, at least, exactly what he wants. That's why, finally, after at least four years of entertaining the possibility, he kisses her.

His head's pounding. His mind's screaming. His heart's pounding. In an instant, he knows that he's done something wrong. He's done something that he can never take back. The alcohol's lowered his inhibitions, but it hasn't robbed him completely of sense. So, he has enough sense to draw back, to give her space.

"I…I'm sorry…I shouldn't have…"

Not enough sense to salvage the situation though, given the way she looks at him.

"Really don't know what-"

She kisses him back. And sense goes out the window.

Alcohol's coursing through their veins. Their minds are clouded. Their hearts are beating a mile a minute. Hearts that aren't pure, but their hearts know their desires. Their hearts beat, the alcohol flows it, and following it, the desire. So, it's a clumsy process, getting their clothes to hit the floor. It's a clumsy tumble onto the bed, where they're on, below, and between sheets. It's clumsy as they kiss, caress, and roll over one another, before finally getting into the rhythm of things.

"I was waiting to see you again…" Mary whispers eventually.

"Why?" Billy kisses her neck and she looks back.

"Look behind you."

He does so. On the windowsill, behind the bed. A small black box with jade earrings.

"Still wear them," she whispers. He feels her hand run along his head. "Still wear them…" He feels her hand move downwards, touching both their legs, taking her last piece of clothing with it – a moment later, a pair of pants hit the floor. "Still wear them…"

Billy knows what's coming. And while what purity lies within his heart bids him stay his hand, alcohol and sin have made it too late for that. Lust is imprisoned with the seven, but its legacy exists within both of them now.

When it happens, it happens slowly, at least at first. But as it speeds up, as sloth is replaced by vigour, both find that they have the stamina of Atlas. To keep going, despite the haze, despite the heat, despite the exhaustion. To push onward. Upward. On and on, until at last, their stamina gives out. Until Mary gives him one last smile, before he kisses her. Before, at least, night's embrace takes them both.

The morning after, their heads are pounding. Their bodies are drenched in sweat. They're dehydrated, exhausted, and the sheets smell funny. But they lie there, contented, holding one another…there's nothing that needs to be said. Like on his first day of school in Philadelphia, when she'd asked him how it went – some things don't need saying. So it's with few words that they both get dressed, actually taking separate turns to shower, brush their teeth, and all that stuff. It's with few words that Billy stands at the doorway, waiting for Mary to come out of the bathroom (fully dressed mind you). It's with few words that he says, "so…be in touch?"

She smiles, kissing him on the cheek. "Yeah. Stay in touch."

He gives her a smile back and heads off, closing the door softly. Neither of them has much to say right now, but after the events of last night, well, some things don't need to be said.

A month later, Mary calls him with plenty to say.

She's pregnant.


	4. The Power of Zeus

.

**Shazam: The Captain and the Lady**

**Chapter 4: The Power of Zeus**

Eight months after the night that changed everything, Billy Batson, a.k.a. Captain Marvel, is in Philadelphia battling evil robots.

Okay, maybe not "evil" robots. Robots aren't evil, they're just programmed. Still, these robots have been programmed by Lex Luthor. Lex Luthor's evil (or insane, but in Billy's experience the two go hand in hand). Lex Luthor has a grudge against superheroes, and he's set his sights on taking out Captain Marvel. Why him, out of all the heroes in the world, Billy's not sure, but whatever. They're here. They're tearing up the city for him. Lex Luthor's a fugitive from justice, but still has access to enough money to buy and deploy evil robots. So all Billy can do is take out these evil robots and do so while causing as little damage as possible.

It isn't that easy. Once, in what feels like a separate lifetime, he was told that only magic can harm those imbued with magic. Apparently dear Thaddeus Sivanna didn't get the memo that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. Because these robots are shooting lightning at him, and it hurts.

Everything hurts these days.

Billy hasn't kept up on social media, but if he had, he might have been able to see a change in "Lightning Man." No, it isn't just how he's going by the name of Captain Marvel now, it's that people have noticed that he's smiling less. Talking less. When he fights, it's with nary a twinkle in his eye, but rather a cold fury. The world's colder (climate change aside). He's colder. It's the last month of summer, but it feels like winter has come. And it's done so without _Game of Thrones _re-runs. Eight months ago, he was fighting aliens and having the time of his life. Now, staring at the automatons below, it is without word or cheer, his features etched into a cold frown.

It's with that frown that he snaps one of the last remaining robots in two. He used to care about that stuff. Make jokes about that stuff. He can remember a time where he was a teenager – in that brief period of time between finding his mother, and that night a year later with Mary. The woman who-

The last robot hits him, bringing its fist smashing against his body. Even with such a physical attack, it still hurts. So when he smashes down into the pavement and makes a Captain Marvel-sized crater, when he looks back up at the robot, he's ready to believe he has laser eye powers. He's staring at it with such hatred that he could swear that the robot looks surprised behind its red visor and lack of…any other facial features. Either way, it gets ready to zap him.

"Piss off," Billy grunts.

He zaps it with lightning. The power of Zeus courses through him. Lightning of the gods, now in the hands of a twenty year –old who feels as alone as he did from the ages of four to fourteen. He hits it, and the robot recoils. Billy rises to his feet and walks forward in silence, sending a constant stream of electricity into the abomination. The air is humming with static electricity. The ground trembles at the feet of the world's mightiest mortal. It is as if the gods have returned to Earth, and the planet is terrified at their coming.

He hates this thing. He hates himself. At some point, a movie that he no longer cares about said something about giving into hate, and dominating one's destiny. Right now, Billy doesn't care about his destiny. He doesn't care about much at all. He just wants to destroy this machine. This abomination. This construct that's destroyed so much already. He's going to destroy it, because destroying things, destroying lives…that's all he does. He's destroyed his own life. And worse, he's destroyed someone else's life. Giving into that hate, the lightning flows ever faster, ever brighter, but its light only casts further shadows upon him.

The robot detonates. Debris goes flying everywhere. Luckily, the crowds are far enough away that they aren't hurt. He can't say the same about the buildings. Or the cars. Or the streets. Or himself, as a piece of debris comes flying right at him.

He could dodge it. He could zap it. He could smash it. He could do any number of things to avoid being hit by this piece of metal. But instead, he takes it. Partly because he knows it'll do no damage. Partly because he wants it to. He stretches out his arms – he's ready. Ready to be cleansed of his sins, if not forgiven. Ready to just let it end.

It doesn't. It just hits him, and hits him hard, sending him smashing into a car with enough force to sound its alarm. He takes most of the blow.

_It's not enough._

He leans back against the car. He can't be bothered. He's ready to just lie here, between these two pieces of metal, waiting for the crows to pick his body to pieces. He knows he could whisper but a word, and instantly have his mortal form crushed. He could just let it end. He could just…walk away.

"Wow," says a voice, breaking through Billy's thoughts, and the dark clouds that roll within them. "I mean, I thought I was bad with collateral damage, but I think you've taken it to a new level."

Billy winces as the caped figure descends from the sky, hovering before him like some kind of angel that's been dragged out of bed to save someone's soul, and not looking the least bit happy about it. "Go away," he moans.

"Why? Philadelphia's my turf."

"I'm on a global outreach program. I go where the work takes me."

Angel-guy drags the robot off Billy. He still lies against the car though, hoping beyond hope that the man in front of him will disappear.

"Batman's arse, you're in a state," the would-be angel says.

Billy grunts, closing his eyes, wishing the darkness could take him. "Go away Freddy."

"I'm not going anywhere. Like I said, this is my turf."

Billy opens his eyes. Freddy's still hovering there, his cape billowing in the wind. Behind him, he can see people taking snapshots. Lots of snapshots. Freddy looks over his shoulder and sees them too.

"Come on," his foster brother says. "We need to talk."

"You need to piss-"

Freddy grabs him by the scruff of his cape and yanks Billy through the sky.

"…off."

He could fight back. He's got the power of Zeus. He's the first of the Shazam Family, and still the best (least he tells himself that, though not as much as he used to). If his heart was in it, he could break free of Freddy's grip, and make him a cripple in his immortal form. He could do a lot of things. But he won't. He knows this, because there's something he has to do, and he still hasn't done it.

Freddy drops him on top of a rooftop, Captain Marvel hitting it with a thud. Billy groans as Freddy Freeman. descends from the sky.

"Nice," Billy murmurs, looking up at his foster-brother. "You've got the whole descending from on high thing down. Could work on the cape though. It needs to flap more."

Freddy remains silent.

"What? Like, isn't this your thing? Isn't your day job specializing as a psychologist for meta-humans? Helping them cope with their powers?"

"Yeah, it is actually," Freddy says. "Though technically it's an internship right now while I do my degree, but hey, thanks for noticing."

"Well, don't know if I'm noticing exactly, but-"

"Yeah, I don't either." He reaches the top of the building. In their immortal forms, they're round about the same height, but Billy feels dwarfed. Freddy's always had a strength to him that he suspects Freddy himself doesn't even appreciate. Even in his immortal form, it comes through – the strength of adversity manifesting in ways other than just brute strength.

"So…" Freddy says.

"So? Like, what, you want me to say la? Because I can do that. And ti, and-"

"How's Mary?" Freddy asks bluntly.

Billy groans, all thoughts of music leaving his head. "Come on Freddy-"

With a scowl that would give Batman a run for his money, Freddy says "don't say it isn't my business. We're family. She's family. You're still family, even if you're being a dick about it."

"You know I could just blast you off this building right now?"

"And thanks to you, our family's getting an extra member," Freddy continues. "Well, don't know if 'thanks' is the word, but…" He trails off. Billy can see that he had a speech planned, but he's either forgotten it, or he's started to realize that it isn't cutting it.

"It was consensual you know," Billy blurts out.

Freddy says nothing.

"Nothing untoward." _I mean, it wasn't, was it?_

"Believe it or not, I believe you," Freddy says. "Still…"

"What?" Billy asks. "This going to be a lecture about not having a crush on your foster-sister?"

"No, more like don't leave your foster-sister alone. Or any of us alone."

Billy gestures down towards the robots, and the police cars that are coming towards them. "Been a bit busy, in case you haven't noticed."

"We're all busy," Freddy says. I'm busy. Parents are busy. Darla's busy, Eugene's busy, Pedro's busy, Mary's busy. She's about to get a lot busier very soon. So…" Freddy walks over and gives Billy a shove. "How come you're not more busy?"

"Freddy, come on…"

He gives him a shove again. "Well?"

"Don't do that Freddy."

"What? Too much for you?" He takes a step back. "Want me to go easy on you?"

"Freddy, what are you-"

"Shazam!"

A lightning bolt comes down from the sky. It hits Freddy, it hits the rooftop, and it nearly hits Billy off his feet.

He can feel it. The power from the heavens, the power that hit Freddy, the power that nearly hit him. It's power that he has inside him, somewhere. Power that he can't bring himself to call on anymore. If he wields the power of Zeus, it's forever tainted by Hera's ire.

"This better?" Freddy asks.

Billy doesn't say anything. Freddy's the same age as he is. He's still got his crutch. He walks back over and pokes Billy's red-covered, oh so muscular chest with it. "This better?"

"Come on Freddy…"

"Y'know, when you first turned up at the Den, I thought you were an okay guy," Freddy says. "Then I thought you were a shit. Then I thought you were a hero. Then I thought you were a shit again, but then I thought hey, Billy grew up – shared his power, even turned up to school with Superman." He sighs, and looks to the side, faint beams of sunlight dancing in his eyes. "Now though?" He looks back at Billy. "Now I'm back to thinking you're a shit."

Billy shrugs, trying to convey indifference that he doesn't actually possess. "I'm a complicated guy."

"No. Not really. You're just a coward."

That hurts. It hurts more than anything else the robots did to him. More than anything in the last seven months. And the look on Freddy's face…he can tell that he's hurt his best friend. That pain without and within tries to compel him to say something, but no words come out.

"I knew it," Freddy says. "You are a coward."

Because he knows it, he's going to keep pushing.

"Come on Freddy…"

"No," he says. "You know what to do, what needs to be done, and spoilers, it isn't punching robots that are more interested in Superman than anything else."

"You're just jealous that they aren't interested in you."

Freddy whacks him with the crutch. It hurts. It actually hurts. Even in the form of Captain Marvel, Billy doubles over in pain.

_What the hell is happening to me?_

"We're a family," Freddy says. "You broke it. You fix it."

"Freddy…"

"Fix it," he says. "Do that, or God damn it, I'm never talking to you again."

"Freddy, I don't even-"

Freddy pulls something out of his pocket and hands it over.

"What's this?" Billy asks.

"You know what it is."

"Um, no, I don't actually."

Freddy hands it even closer. "Read it dumbass."

Billy takes it and does so. It's an address in San Francisco.

"Who lives…" He trails off. He's hurting, but he can still put two and two together. He can guess who lives there.

"I know you spent years looking for your mum," Freddy says. "Figure I can help speed up the whole looking for Mary thing."

"But I'm not looking for-"

"I know. That's why you're a shit." Freddy gestures with his head towards the west. "Go on. Long flight, but you should make it by dark."

And with that, he walks past Billy down to the door that'll take him back down through the building.

"Um, shouldn't you…" Billy trails off and Freddy looks at him. "Like…lightning? Flying?"

Freddy gestured to an indentation on the roof – the concrete's been damaged, and is still hissing from the lightning.

"Damaged the building once," he says. "Don't want to damage it again."

He puts his hand on the door handle before looking back at Billy. "Oh, and Captain Marvel? Seriously?"

"Well, I can't say the S-word without transforming, and people keep asking me what my name is, so…"

"But Captain Marvel?"

"Better than Captain Sparklefingers."

Billy smirks, and with that, he exits through the door. Not to the Rock of Eternity (which Billy hasn't used in eight months – the empty thrones and whispers of the Sins were too much, Lust especially), but just down into the building. Out of sight, but not out of mind.

Which doesn't make processing things any easier. Because right now, Billy's looking at the paper Freddy gave him. Looking at it, processing it, feeling his heart beat against his chest, and pain course through his muscles…

…And never having felt so powerless.


	5. The Courage of Achilles

.

**Shazam: The Captain and the Lady**

**Chapter 5: The Courage of Achilles**

From the air, San Francisco is beautiful.

It's pretty beautiful on the ground as well, which is where Billy Batson is right now. It's a bright and sunny day (well, bright and sunny by San Franciscan standards), and it's been pierced by a lightning bolt that mysteriously hit a back alley. Now, dressed in clothes that haven't been washed for over a week, he's making his way to a block of apartments. He reflects that it's weird that his superhero uniform never requires cleaning, or sewing, or anything like that. Magic's weird like that.

He wishes he could magic his way out of this. But that would be the coward's way out. And…well, maybe he is a coward. Because climbing the stairs to level 5 of Zildian Appartments, his heart's beating fast, and it's not just because of the climb. It's not even from the sensation of déjà vu when he found his mother, though he can tell that this apartment block is a bit more upmarket than the one he found his mother in.

He reaches apartment 5G. He reaches for the door and takes a breath. Damn it, what he wouldn't give for another alien invasion, or robot plague, or even a villain with a giant axe that wants to do evil things for evil reasons. Anything to put this off. Anything to give him an excuse to not knock on the door. Anything to stop his hand from trembling, his heart from pounding, his throat from-

_Oh hey, neat._

He presses the doorbell instead. That makes it easier. Somehow.

"Who is it?" comes a voice.

And that sense of ease has evaporated completely. He glances down the hallway. He could make it to the stairs if he started now. He hears footsteps on the other side, but if Mary only saw the back of him, chances are she wouldn't recognise him. Like, it's been eight months after all and oh boy, he can hear her footsteps.

"Hello?"

"It's…" Billy takes a breath. "It's your brother."

"Excuse me?"

Damn it, he used to do this schtick for years, going to anyone named Marilyn Batson and claiming he's they're son, why's it so hard now? "It's…your foster brother. Or, one of them."

"Freddy?"

Does he really sound like Freddy? Huh. Weird. And oh God, the door's opening, and he's shaking, and he's sweating, and he's pretty sure he forgot to use deodorant today and…

She's there. Her face is in-between the door and its frame. It's the same face from eight months ago. It's the face that's haunted his dreams for half a decade. Only now, she isn't smiling.

"Billy?"

She's frowning.

"Hey," he says, forcing a smile of his own, as if to make up for the lack of hers. "I was wondering if we could-"

She slams the door.

"…talk." He hears footsteps on the other side of it. "Mary, open up!" he yells.

The footsteps are getting further away, moving just as fast as he keeps hammering on the wooden frame.

"Mary, come on!"

"Go away!"

"Mary, open the door, or I'll say the S-word and break it down!"

This really isn't going like he anticipated. Like, he didn't expect Mary to be glad to see him, but he wasn't expecting to have the door slammed shut in his face. He glances up and down the corridor – no-one's there, but if the walls have ears, then the walls might be considering this a case of potential domestic abuse. Granted, the walls would need minds as well as ears for that, and they'd need hands to do something about it, and-

Mary opens the door slightly. "The S-word," she says bluntly. "You're still using that term?"

Billy shrugs.

"You know what the A-word is? Because you're it."

"Probably," he whispers.

"Five minutes," she says, and she opens the door fully. "Then I'm using the K-word to knock you're A-word into the H-word."

He smiles at her.

"Lose the smile."

He obeys her and walks in. She closes the door and follows. She walks ahead to the kitchen while Billy remains put, taking the scene in.

The apartment is…organized chaos is the term that comes to mind, and that's being as generous as possible. There's half-eaten food, half-drunk drinks, and a table that's covered in various pieces of paper. He walks forward and takes a quick glance. All of them start with "Dear Ms. Bromfield," and go on to use weasel words about applying for a position. Every position has to do with building, or engineering, or some stuff that he doesn't get. All he does get is that Mary's applied for these positions, and hasn't got into any of them, and has been given no reason why.

"Here." Mary walks back from the kitchen with two glasses of water in her hands. "You won't be staying long, so you're only getting this."

Billy takes his glass, smiling faintly. "If I was staying longer, would I get something other than water?"

She takes a sip from her own glass. "No."

_Didn't think so_. He takes a sip as well, and…he can't help it. He's trying to keep his eyes fixed on hers, but they go down to her stomach. Her very large stomach that her jumper isn't doing anything to hide that there's a bastard growing inside her (as in born out of wedlock – what else would it mean?)

"So," Mary says. "Five minutes."

"Oh, um…" Billy puts his water down on the table, pushing some of the papers aside. "So, um, your apartment…"

Mary sighs and heads to one of the chairs around the TV set. "Four minutes, fifty seconds."

"Mary, I…" He follows her, not taking the water with him. "Like, I've got a lot to say, and, like, I can't say it in five minutes and-"

"You had eight months to say anything." She takes another sip and looks up at him. "I mean, hey, why even bother starting now?"

"Mary-"

"Why are you here Billy?"

"Because…" He gestures towards her stomach, then her. "Because, like…"

"I'm fine, thank you."

He glances at the table, and all the half-eaten food – noodles, tacos, salads, the works. "You don't seem fine. That's, what, twenty-five rejection letters?"

Mary looks to the side, her cheeks flushing. "Twenty-seven."

"And…you printed them out."

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Motivation."

"Motivation?"

"Motivation," Mary says. "Turns out a lot of companies aren't interested in hiring an engineer who's expecting, but…well, I'll get there. Eventually."

"Man, that like, really sucks," he says. "Are you-"

"Four minutes Billy."

"Mary, you…like…" He glances at the mantelpiece, where a degree with honours from Caltech is framed above it, alongside pictures of…God, there's a lump in his throat. Freddy. Darla. Pedro. Eugene. Victor. Rosa. One of all of them, including him, taken at their first Christmas together after he'd discovered his powers, as well as his family. There's a lot he could say as to that, but instead he focuses on the degree. "See you graduated."

"Saw you weren't there," she murmurs. "The others made it. Even mum and dad – that's Victor and Rosa by the way, my real parents forgot I existed long ago."

Billy takes a seat, and she looks at him. "Don't worry, you didn't miss much, only my valedictorian speech. And my dress. Needed a special one to hide…" She gestures to her belly. "This."

"Mary…"

"Why are you here Billy?" she asks. Her eyes have narrowed, and there's something in her voice that cuts through Billy like a hot knife. "No, seriously, why? You don't talk to me in eight months, then you just show up here with no warning, and…okay, seriously, why now?"

"Are we still counting down?"

"Time out until you give me that answer," Mary says. She leans forward, resting her chin on her hands. "One answer Billy. If that's all your selfish little life is going to give me, let it be that. Why come now when-"

"Because Freddy said to!"

He shouldn't have said that, he reflects. He really shouldn't have said that. God damn it, there's a million reasons as to why he's here, and why he hasn't come until now, and he went with the most simple, most selfish answer there was.

"Because Freddy said so," Mary murmurs. She finishes off her water – even with the glass so close to her face, it can't obscure the hurt in her eyes. "Of course. Freddy says so, and you come running."

"Mary-"

"Time's up Billy." She gets to her feet. "You can see yourself out."

"Mary, come on."

"I said time's up." She takes his glass and with hers, begins walking to the kitchen.

"Mary, there must be three minutes left."

"There's nothing you can say to me in three hours that'll make it more bearable seeing you again," Mary says. She walks out of the kitchen, the glasses no longer in her hands. "Now get out before-"

She stumbles, clutching her stomach. Billy dashes over. Not nearly fast enough to leave an after-image or anything like that, but enough to stop her from falling.

"You okay?" she asks.

She lets out a grunt. "I don't need your help Billy."

"Here, come on." He gets her back to the chair. She flops down on it. It's at this point that he notices the dark circles under her eyes, along with the lank hair. She looks exhausted.

"I said I didn't need your help," she murmurs, now not only looking exhausted, but sounding exhausted.

He gingerly takes a seat opposite her. She's closed her eyes and is breathing heavily – she looks and sounds ready to just nod off then and there. He's actually tempted to let her doze off, give her the rest she needs and-

"You still here?" she murmurs.

Billy doesn't say anything.

"Fine," she grunts. She waves a hand in his general direction. "Say whatever it is you have to say, then get out. I've got the time."

Billy leans forward and begins rubbing his hands together. There's a lot he wants to say. A lot he wants to ask.

"Why me?" he murmurs.

"What?" Mary asks.

"Why me?" he repeats. "Why me, out of every other guy?"

"You really came here to get the answer that question?"

"Mary, just…tell me that, before I say my piece," he said.

"Not part of the deal."

"Sooner you do it, sooner I'm out of your hair." He tries to smile, but sorrow and guilt keep his lips in place. "Though it looks like you need more stuff in your hair. Shampoo maybe?"

"Piss off Billy."

"Soon enough. But I'm still wondering…"

"I liked you. You liked me. Foster-siblings in a healthy household do that.  
"Mary, what happened…that goes beyond liking."

"Who said it did go beyond?" Mary adjusts her pose and leans back in the chair. "You don't look satisfied."

Billy doesn't say anything.

"What else?" she asks.

"I get why I liked you, looking back," he says. "Like, from the start – teenage boy, nice-looking girl going off…I mean, that's how it started. Or, maybe it started with the earrings…"

Mary looks aside.

"And then, four years of not seeing you, and then, bam. You're there." He snaps his fingers for effect. "Seeing you then again, like…it's like everything I ever felt back at Philadelphia just came rushing back. I mean, not like Freddy, or Darla, or any of the others, but…" He makes gestures with his hands. "You know what I mean?"

Mary doesn't say anything. She just sits there, looking at him with a scowl on her face.

"And then, I dunno, beer, TV, then…" He gestures to her, then to her belly. "Well, take a look."

"I am looking," she murmurs. "I've looked for seven months. Wouldn't have minded an extra pair of eyes looking as well, if only once."

As far as eyes go, Billy lowers them. But nevertheless, he manages to ask, "so what's your story?"

"My what?" Mary asks.

"Four years apart, I see you, you see me. I mean, what happened, on your end…it must have come from somewhere."

Mary's scowl deepens.

"Come on," he says. "Sooner you get it out, sooner I leave."

"I could get you to leave right now."

"Yeah? What, calling down a lightning bolt?"

"God no. I haven't done that in eight months."

"Huh? Why?"

She gestures to her stomach.

"Oh. Fair point." He tries to smile again, and this time, he manages it. "Still, if little junior popped out with a cape, guess that would be something."

Mary snorts, then smiles, then removes it as quickly as possible. She's got a hand to her chin, and is refusing to make eye contact. Eventually, she murmurs, "maybe that's why."

"Sorry?"

She sighs. "You know, back then, I got that you had the whole asshole thing going on, but…I didn't believe it. An asshole would have just kept walking and let Freddy take it."

"Pardon?"

"First day of school. Remember?"

"Um…" He does, vaguely, but it's mostly being taken up by meeting an old guy telling him to touch his long, magical, pointy stick. The school part of that December day is more of a blur.

"And then, well…lightning bolts. Demons. Crazy people. You, being…" She gestures to him. "You. Us being, well, us."

Billy remembers. Six months of it. Six months of a Lair, six months of fighting bad guys, six months before Mary left them.

"Going to college…it's not something I regret for a moment, but, well…I did miss it," Mary said. "Like, missed all of you, but I couldn't think of the fun we had without thinking of you as well. And then…well, then aliens show up, and you show up, and there's me, on top of the world – few months from graduation, I get to don the cape again and do something other than saving a cat from a tree…"

"Heh, you do that also?"

"And then, like…" She gestures to him. "Us. Beer. TV."

"Thought it came in the opposite order."

"And then…" She gestures to her belly again. "This."

Billy doesn't say anything.

"And then seven months of nothing," Mary says. "Well, nothing from you at least. It happened, you left me to pick up the pieces, and…and I'm left wondering what I ever saw in you, or what you saw in me."

Billy wants to say it. Because in this moment, he knows exactly what he saw in Mary. What he _sees _in Mary. He sees it in the degree on the mantelpiece. In the pictures around it. In the letters on the table, and in the woman in front of him, still going on despite the burden growing within her, and the burden it'll be in the years to come. He sees her still going on. He sees someone who's smart. Who's kind. Who's got a strength that…He rubs his hands together, thinking of another woman he once knew. A strength that so many don't. A strength that he lacked.

He wants to tell her this. He wants to let it come gushing out.

"So, go on then," Mary says. "That's my story, so what's yours?"

"Mary…"

"Just…" She leans back in her chair again. She looks even more exhausted than before. "Just…say what you came to say."

Billy Batson takes a breath. He rubs his hands together to keep them from shaking. He takes a breath, in order to steady his heartbeat. There's a saying that the truth will set you free. Right now, he figures that the truth might do much more to him. To both of them.

"Mary…" he says. "About that night, I…I want to say that I'm sorry."

"Don't," she says.

"What?"

"Don't," she murmurs. "I don't care about that night. I care about what happened after. Or…" She sighs. "What didn't happen."

"I know," he says. "And I'm sorry."

She grunts. "Bit late to be sorry."

"I know, and…and I've kept thinking about it," he says. "Because…because I knew what happened. What happened with us…it's the same thing that happened with my mother."

Mary opens her eyes.

"I couldn't think about it," he said. "Like, if I stayed…would the same thing that happened to me happen to my dad, or my mum? Would I leave? Or, better not to let the…" He looks at her.

"Guy." She runs a hand over her stomach, a calm, and even warmth dancing in her eyes that hasn't been there this evening yet. "The ultrasound confirmed it."

_Guy_. Billy takes a moment to process that he knows that he's soon going to have a son.

"But go on," Mary murmurs. She stops rubbing her stomach and looks at Billy again, all that warmth in her eyes departed. "Why the hesitation?"

"Because it took me fourteen years to find a family, and I spent ten years letting family hold me back."

"And eight months of…what, exactly?"

"Running," Billy says. His head is faced towards the carpet, and his hands are out in repentance. "Running. Fighting. Doing everything except facing up to what I'd done. Like…" He rubs his eyes – he feels as exhausted as Mary looks. "I just couldn't get the image out of my head. Me, leaving a child I'd brought into the world…like my mum…"

"And leaving me with it instead," Mary said.

"You'd be a better parent than me," Billy says. "Better than my mum. Maybe…I guess, that's why…" He chuckles. "Wisdom of Solomon. Courage of Achilles. Truth is I've got neither. But…well, if courage is facing fear, then…" He sighs, and meets Mary's eyes again. "That's the truth. I was afraid. But…" He gets to his feet. "I did what my mum did, and even she kept me for four years."

"Longer than mine," Mary murmurs.

"Mary, I'm sorry," Billy says. The words come gushing out, flowing over him like the waters of the Styx flooded Achilles of old. "I'm sorry. I know that doesn't mean much, but…I want you to know that. Really. I screwed up, but…you're going to be great, you know. And…well, think I always knew that. Maybe that's why…how…this all started."

Mary gets to her feet. She's four years his senior, but they're roughly equal in height. He can tell that just moving is a form of exertion. Slowly, she puts a hand on his shoulder. He keeps his head down.

"You asking for forgiveness?" she asks.

"No," he said.

"Then why are you here?"

"Because…because you deserved to know the truth. I spent a decade looking for the truth, and you…you shouldn't have had to wait seven months for it."

"No," she says. "I shouldn't have."

He keeps his head down. Right up to where she takes his chin in her fingers and raising his gaze to meet hers.

"But I understand," she says. "I don't know if I forgive you, but…I understand."

"And…?"

"There is no _and,_ Billy. Seven months ago, there might have been an and, but…" She trails off. She's turning pale.

"Mary?"

She stumbles down into her chair. "Oh God."

"Mary? You alright?"

"My water broke."

A pillar of ice washes through Billy's body. "But, it's only…"

He doesn't finish that. Nine months is the average, not the rule.

"Billy, I…" She's beginning to breathe heavily. "Oh. Oh boy. It…" She takes a breath. "Oh God, he's coming."

She looks up at him, and in that moment, Billy feels the urge to run.

It's not his problem. He's said his piece. He has no idea what the hell he's doing, and his life is weird enough without becoming a father at the age of twenty. Everything he knows about Mary, everything that he saw in her, everything that made him fall in love with her…that's still there. She's going to do great. Their…_her_, son, is going to do great. There's no reason for him to be here at all. No reason for him to get involved. No reason to do anything other than leave the room right now.

A lie. There's plenty of reasons. There's the reason of Achilles – courage. There's the reason because it's the right thing to do. There's the reason that, seeing Mary again for the first time in eight months, he's reminded of the fact that…that he loves her. As more than a foster sister. There's the reason that unlike his father, he can be the bigger man. The better man. That unlike his mother, he won't run.

"Come on," he says. "Let me help you."

"I'm fine Billy." She pushes him away as she tries to get up.

"Mary, just…" He takes a breath. "Just let me do this. Okay? Even if it's just this one thing."

Mary looks at him. There's a lot of emotions in her eyes. Hurt, most of all.

"One thing," she says.

But a bit of gratitude as well. A bit, and only a bit, but he can work with that. Besides, he didn't come here for gratitude. Maybe forgiveness, but even that has dropped in his priorities list.

"Okay," he says. He helps her get to her feet. "I'll just say Sha-"

"Billy, don't!"

"Huh?"

Mary points upwards. He looks to where she's pointing. He looks back at her. She points up again.

"You've…got a leak?"

"You. Lightning. Crash."

"Oh." He smiles. "Right. Heh, nearly made a mess there."

"Billy, I…" She takes a breath, clutching her stomach. "I'm really in a lot of pain right now, and I'm freaking terrified, and it would make my life a lot better if you could just not be an idiot for five minutes!"

"Oh. Sure." He looks around the apartment. "You got a balcony?"

"Yeah. Just…over there," she says. She gestures towards the far end of the apartment, where there's a sliding door. "Why?"

Billy grins and runs off.

"Billy!"

He heads out the door. He jumps off, despite Mary's screams of protests. He yells the magic word. Lighting comes down from the sky. Captain Marvel, formerly Shazam, formerly Captain Sparklefingers, walks back into the apartment.

"Need a lift?" he asks, grinning.

Mary can't help but smirk too as she gingerly gets into his arms. "Five minutes," she says. "Just…don't be an idiot for five minutes."

"Sure. I can manage that."

Five minutes is double the time that it takes to get Mary to a hospital. The other half is him disappearing, reverting back to mortal form, then coming to join her as nurses show her to the maternity ward.

Following that, five minutes becomes five hours.

Five hours is how long it takes for Mary Bromfield to give birth.

Five hours is how long it takes for Billy Batson, seeing his son for the first time, holding him in his arms, listening to him cry, to at last, no longer be afraid.


	6. The Speed of Mercury

.

**Shazam: The Captain and the Lady**

**Chapter 6: The Speed of Mercury**

Billy Batson is running down the street to the apartment block. Two boxes are in his hands, and it's not making running any easier.

Every time he does this he transforms in a random location. Sometimes close, sometimes far – Eugene helped him on an algorithm to help ensure that no-one knows where he hangs his cape, the locations plotted in a way that they'd be unplottable for anyone looking for where Captain Marvel hung up his cape. Not that he spends most of his time in San Francisco, but he comes he regularly enough when he isn't hanging out with the Justice League. Something that Clark and Bruce made abundantly clear is that if one's going into the capes business, you better do a good job in ensuring your loved ones are as far away from danger as possible. Not that Billy is sure what Bruce has to worry about as far as "loved ones" goes (Diana aside, but it's not like she's in any danger), but he's taken these things to heart. He's not the boy he was seven, even six years ago. He's accepted that there's people that are smarter than he is, and he should listen to them.

Still, it's really tempting to just yell the S-word and get to the apartment quicker. He's got the speed of Mercury, but that only extends to his immortal form. Not the tracksuit wearing, beanie wearing, twenty-something jobless bum he is now. Yes, Bruce is supporting the Justice League through his accounts, but Clark has a job, Diana has a job, even Barry and Victor have jobs. What job does he have right now apart from playing the role of Captain Sparklefingers?

He picks up the pace after glancing at his watch. He's not just running late; he's running _really_ late. And that the elevator in the apartment block is broken doesn't help matters. So, when he gets to the fifth floor, when he gets to room 5G and knocks on the door, he doesn't call out. He's too busy wheezing. So, when Mary finally opens the door, she gives him a look that's half amusement, half irritation.

"You're late," she says.

Billy, who's still panting like a dog, gestures to let her know that he knows.

"Really late."

He nods.

"Beginning to think you wouldn't show up."

Billy, his breath steadying, gets to his feet. Mary's eyes linger on him before she looks at the boxes she's carrying.

"Two presents?"

"Sort of," he says. He puts one of the boxes down and opens the longer one. Out come a bouquet of flowers – tulips and roses to be exact, intended to match the colours of her immortal form. "Like, I know it isn't your birthday, or Valentine's Day, or Mother's Day, or…"

Mary stares at him.

"Like, I knew I'd be late, and I kind of wanted to say I'm sorry in a way other than just saying I'm sorry, so…"

"So you bought me flowers."

He shrugs.

"Wow." She takes them in her hands. "Like, wow. That's, like, the most original present anyone's ever got for me."

Billy smiles – it's all he can do.

"So, because you got me flowers, you think everything's right in the world?"

"Well, hardly anything's right in the world," Billy says. "Lex Luthor's still at large, Constantine's got a demon problem, Orm's escaped from Atlantis, Hades has got a hate-boner for the mortal world…"

Mary gives him the look.

"…and of course, that's got nothing to do with me being late," Billy says. "And buying flowers."

Mary still uses the look.

"Please don't say you hate me."

She takes a sniff of the bouquet before looking at him. "This is bribery, you know that right?"

"Yeah." He smiles. "Is it working?"

She smiles faintly. "For now."

"Right, so…"

A silence lingers between them. A silence that fills he hallway. A silence that fills his heart. A silence that Mary finally breaks after saying, "alright. Come in."

_Yes! _She turns around and Billy does a victory punch.

"Billy, if you're doing that stupid punch thing, I swear to God…"

Billy walks into the apartment and closes the door behind him, his right hand no longer a fist.

The apartment's changed a fair bit since he was here 365 days ago. The table's cleaner – it's got a few books on engineering on top of it, but it's clean, and free from rejection letters. There are more pictures as well, along with a small jewellery box with some jade earrings. And there's no sight of half-eaten food or anything like that. There's a few stuffed toys and picture books scattered on the floor, but Billy easily makes his way through the gauntlet of detritus.

"I should warn you, he's probably asleep," Mary says, as she runs some water into a jug before putting the flowers in. She puts them on the table and looks at Billy. "You get that you really are late, right?"

"I do."

"Good."

"Mary, I…" He takes a breath – he wants this. He wants this more than anything. "I can come back later, if you want."

She looks back at the flowers and continues to adjust them.

"Like, if you need space…"

Mary sighs. "I get it," she says. "I've got a job. You've got a job. Sometimes I take the cape as well, sometimes you take our son to a fair or something."

It's true. All of it. She looks up at him. In one eye, shines sadness. In the other, shines understanding.

"Wait here," she says. She heads to one of the doors at the back of the apartment. Billy takes a seat at the table.

He waits for at least five minutes. Maybe longer. He's not that good at waiting. He can move faster than almost every other person on this planet, and even in his mortal form, well, he's never been good at staying still. So, yes, he begins to fidget. He begins to tap his fingers on the table. He begins to do all the stuff he usually does, and wonder when, or _if_, Mary's coming out again.

"Billy."

He looks up. She's standing there. Holding a young boy in her arms. Slowly, quietly, she makes her way to the table, and takes a seat beside him.

"He's very tired," she whispers. "So…"

"Be quiet," Billy says.

Mary nods. "Henry?" she whispers. "Daddy's here."

Henry Fawcett Bromfield makes a soft noise and clutches his mother's shirt with his hands.

"Henry, daddy has something for you."

"Some_things_," Billy corrects.

Mary glares at him.

"Sorry."

"Henry?" She kisses her son on his head. "Daddy has…"

Henry makes a noise – a moan? A cry? It's hard to describe. Baby noises are like that. But he shifts his head around and looks at his father through bleary eyes.

"Hey sport," Billy says. He puts a hand forward. Henry recoils.

"Sorry," he says.

Mary puts her son on her lap. "Go on," she says. "Make it quick."

Billy can be quick, though this is one of those cases where he wishes he didn't have to be. Still, Henry's tired. He looks tried, he sounds tired, he's acting tired. So he opens the other box he brought, and takes out two items.

"This is for you," he says. "Something to keep you safe."

Henry doesn't see it, but a lion is put on the table in front of him.

"Would have been a tiger, but they were sold out," Billy whispers. "And this…" He pulls out something else. "This is something for your mother to hold onto until you're older."

He puts the compass down on the table. A real compass. One with a rim of gold around its circumference.

"This is so you're never lost," Billy says. "This is for you to find your home. Because wherever you are, I promise, you're going to be in a world where people are always waiting for you. Always…always there for you."

Henry lets out a moan – not from pain, but it's clear what he wants.

"Henry?" Billy asks. "Do you-"

"That's enough Billy," Mary whispers.

Henry nuzzles against his mother's chest. Mary gets to her feet and takes him back into his room. Billy's left to wait. Left with a stuffed toy that isn't even the right feline, and a compass that his son won't even understand how to use for…what? Three years? Four? Five? Twice that number?

It only takes a minute for Mary to come back out, but it feels just as long as five times that.

"He's asleep," she says.

Billy nods, but his eyes are downward. He doesn't complain that his son wasn't awake for him. That his son hardly recognises him. That over the last year, he's felt like instead of getting closer to Henry, he's been drifting further and further away. He doesn't complain, because he knows that's down to his own actions.

"Must be pooped," Billy says. He looks at Mary as she sits down opposite him. "Big party?"

"Not that big, but, yeah. Party was good."

He nods.

"I do appreciate it, you know," Mary says. She takes his hand in hers, and Billy's heart quickens in pace. "I mean, I'd have loved it much more if you were here, if I didn't have to get a babysitter half the time, but…"

"You wanted distance," Billy says.

Her gaze narrows.

"And hey, that's for the best," he says. He withdraws his hand from hers and looks at the room to Henry's room. To where his son is sleeping. "I can turn invulnerable. Henry…he doesn't get that luxury." He looks back at Mary.

"Did you think it would be like this?" he asks. "You, age twenty-four, city engineer and single mum?"

"First part? Yeah," she says. "I mean…I always had a goal, y'know. Get into college, graduate, make the world a better place…" She chuckles. "Foster kid with something to prove, y'know?" She leans back in her chair and smiles. Almost like she did at that party

"What about you?" she asks.

Billy doesn't say anything

"Billy?"

"I…" He takes a breath. "Wasn't one for plans. For a decade, my only plan was finding my mum. After that…" He shrugs. "Well, plan right now is to keep fighting the good fight. And seeing Henry." He pauses, before adding, "provided that's alright."

Mary gives a small smile. "What if I said no?"

He gives her a look – he's pretty sure she's joking, but he can't be sure.

"I mean, look at you," she says, gesturing towards him. "Twenty-one, no job prospects except wearing the cape and relying on an insane man-bat to provide for you."

"Bruce isn't insane, he's just eccentric."

"You think that makes a difference?" she asks.

Billy's first instinct is to say yes. But he holds his tongue. He didn't used to do that, but having powers like these for seven years…that can change a man. Lots of things can.

"What if I said no?" Mary asked. "What then?"

Billy rubs his hands together, looking downward. He's torn between wanting to yell against the very possibility of that happening, and respecting that Mary is Henry's mother, and that she's done the heavy lifting for the past 365 days.

"Well?"

"Then…I'd respect that."

"After your mother left you, and you never saw your dad?"

"Henry would have you," Billy says. "And that would be more than my mother ever gave me."

"And that's why you're here? To prove you can do better? To be the better man?"

Billy, after a moment, whispers, "I'll let the world decide if I'm better or not."

The world. He doesn't explain that there's two worlds for him. One of those words is what happens when he utters the word "Shazam." When he becomes Captain Marvel, and becomes yet another hero in a cape. The other world is the world that exists between him, Mary, and the rest of their family. He doesn't explain this, because he's sure that Mary already knows it.

"You can see him," Mary murmurs eventually. She looks away from Billy, tapping her fingers on the table and rubbing her neck. "For now."

Billy remains silent for a moment. He doesn't say how grateful he is. He gets to his feet. "Thank you."

Mary grunts, still not meeting his eyes.

"Listen, I…" He takes a breath. "When he wakes up, just let him know that his dad turned up, wished him a happy birthday, told him he loved him…all that stuff." He heads for the door.

"You're leaving?" Mary asks.

He looks back at her. "Didn't you ask for space?"

"That was a year ago."

"Actually, you said the same thing nine months ago. Then six. Then three."

"I…" Mary rubs her hands, evading his gaze. "I say a lot of things."

"Yeah, well…better to say things you can't take back rather than do things you can't." His face darkens. "Or not do."

Mary doesn't say anything. She doesn't have to. There's a wall between them that the last year has failed to demolish. Maybe nothing ever successfully tear it down. Maybe what he did nearly two years ago will always linger between the two of them. Because on one hand…he still loves her. He's never stopped loving her. Seeing her now, seeing her raise Henry, seeing her make the world a better place while wearing the cape and not…he knows he'll always love her. And every so often, he sees the way she looks at him. It isn't love, but…acknowledgement, he supposes. She knows how he feels. But how she feels to him…that's his cross to bear. That's why he's willing to keep to the boundaries she sets.

"Night, Mary," he says. He heads for the door.

"You got a place to stay?" she asks.

He shrugs. "I'll find one."

"Right," she says. "Or…or you could stay here. See Henry tomorrow. Maybe…play with the lion."

He smiles at her.

"That's you staying on the couch by the way," she says.

"Oh. Sure."

Truth was, he wasn't thinking of anything else. He wasn't thinking about staying the night within sleeping distance of his son because the possibility never entered his mind, let alone sharing a bed with her.

"I'll make it," Mary says.

"No."

She looks at him.

"You go to bed," he said. "You look tired."

"I'm not-"

"One year old's birthday coupled with work? Yeah, you're tired."

She smiles. "Okay. Sure."

"Sure."

A silence lingers between them.

"So…night," she says.

"Night."

She hesitates. She turns around to enter her bedroom, before turning around. She approaches Billy slowly. Ever so slowly. She has the speed of Mercury as well, but there's no sign whatsoever. So slowly, she comes to a stop, before suddenly reaching forward and kissing him on the cheek.

"Thanks for coming," she says. "Really."

Thanks for her sake? Henry's? Or both? He doesn't know. But he doesn't ask. He watches her head back to her bedroom. He watches her open the door. He watches her look at him, like a moment at that party all those years ago. When they could just dance, and not worry about sons, or robots, or aliens, or anything like that.

The door closes and Billy stands there. He looks at both doors, so like the ones in the Lair, and yet so different. He imagines a world where he can be at his son's side, being there for him in a way his mother never was. He imagines a world where he and Mary…where it was like it once was. He imagines, and dares to hope that it might be.

But he won't rush it. He may have the speed of Mercury, but he can take things slow.

He has the wisdom for that now.

**The End**

* * *

_A/N_

_So, that's that. Thanks to the people who reviewed (or at this time of writing, effectively "person" - so, double thanks for supercode._

_By way of shameless plugging, don't have any other DC multi-chaptered fics in the works at this time of writing. As mentioned, this was technically never supposed to be a multi-chaptered story in the first place. I will say that I'm continuing to work on a _Firefly _multi-chaptered story titled _All the World's a Stage_, but progress has been slow. Because of my current work cycle, it's far easier to write oneshots nowadays (due to long train/bus rides), but that makes it very hard to find time to work on multi-chapters._

_Anyway, till next time. _


End file.
